If you object to helping the city, review I-279 history

I could not disagree more strongly with the Dec. 30 letters from Lamar Oliver and John Fitzgerald ("Orie and Turzai Have Acted Responsibly on City Crisis" and "Pittsburgh to Blame"). Both letters suggest that Pittsburgh's current budget problems are primarily the result of financial mismanagement on the part of the city.

Both of these writers, as well as state Sen. Jane Orie and state Rep. Mike Turzai, legislators who they are so quick to praise, are in need of a short history lesson. Starting in the late 1960s and continuing for the next 15 years, the East Street Valley and the lower North Side were stripped of thousands of homes and businesses to allow for the construction of I-279. After the new highway opened, the North Hills began to boom, benefiting both Sen. Orie's and Rep. Turzai's constituents.

I should know. In anticipation of the opening of I-279, I established a medical practice in Wexford, profiting handsomely as a result. Many other businesses and individuals have done likewise in an area extending from Ross Township to north of Cranberry.

And what did the city of Pittsburgh and its residents get out of I-279? In most cases, the displaced homeowners and businesses suffered a tremendous financial burden, and Pittsburgh lost a huge piece of its tax base. This clearly is not a result of financial irresponsibility on the part of the city!

Now, it's payback time and some of my fellow North Hills residents and their legislators have very short memories. They forget what the city residents gave up so that they could live in a financially secure municipality.

Telling the city of Pittsburgh to drop dead is not an option. Anything that has a significant negative impact on the city will likely affect the entire region adversely as well. I agree that it is essential for Pittsburgh to manage its finances properly. However, I have no objection to the use of a portion of my tax dollars to help out the city of Pittsburgh and its residents, who sacrificed so much so that the North Hills could prosper.

NEAL A. SCHORR, M.D.
Marshall

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Focus on retention

Enough with the rhetoric and finger-pointing. The city of Pittsburgh is in desperate need of a leader prone to action rather than accusation. Mayor Tom Murphy's tireless efforts to shift the blame for the city's failures from his shoulders to anyone within earshot have become unbearable.

At such a defining moment in our city's evolution, the citizenship is entitled to a mayor who possesses the fortitude to act on behalf of Pittsburgh's best interests at all costs, regardless of the political fallout such a stance might engender. Murphy has not demonstrated a capacity for such character.

In the spirit of this letter, I gladly offer my faculties to the critical work ahead. In many ways, I represent the ideal demographic to whom Murphy is marketing the future of the city: thirtysomething, native to the region, educated at Yale University and Carnegie Mellon University, upwardly mobile information technology professional, currently consulting for a Pittsburgh manufacturing icon. And here's the best part: I already live in Pittsburgh -- in the Central North Side even (I'm practically Murphy's neighbor). You don't even have to persuade me to relocate from Minneapolis!

And, amazing as it might seem, there are many more individuals very much like me who also currently live in Pittsburgh. So here's my first (unsolicited) action item: instead of investing such a large measure of the city's resources and hopes in its ability to attract the aforementioned demographic to Pittsburgh from abroad, let's divert some portion of those resources to nurturing those of us who are already here. Ask any decent marketing professional about the amount of money it takes to retain a customer vs. secure a new one.

By no means am I throwing my hat in the ring for the mayorship. I have neither the political training nor the prescribed experience for such an office. All I am saying here is that I am willing to offer my services -- as a representative of the demographic the mayor's office has already labeled as the vision of the city -- to a leader who is willing to go to the wall for Pittsburgh's future. I am also saying that Murphy is not that person.

VINCE SONSON
North Side

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Redirect the energy

I think the Post-Gazette should make a New Year's Resolution to stop whining about "Pittsburgh's image problem."

I'm 30 years old and have lived in Pittsburgh for 12 years. I stayed here after graduating from Carnegie Mellon because I think Pittsburgh is a beautiful, fascinating city with plenty of things to see and do. It's different from every other place I've been, and the local character is authentic and deeply rooted in history. Most of my friends are also people who came here for college and chose to stay or even moved away and came back.

I'm not suggesting that the Post-Gazette cease all coverage of efforts to improve our city. I'm suggesting that it take a more positive approach. Instead of complaining about young people who leave, write about young people who have stayed and why. Instead of complaining about the amount of parking Downtown, focus on public transit and walkability. And please, please, stop running "How can we solve our image problem?" articles!

Imagine attending a party and meeting two people, both of whom are senior citizens, looking a little scruffy and having some trouble making ends meet. One of them moans on and on about her low self-esteem and how she's gone into debt buying new stuff but still feels lousy.

The other tells you about her comfortable home, her wonderful friends, the green mountainsides she loves to hike, the delicious restaurants in her neighborhood, her library, her art collection and many other things in her obviously full and interesting life, mentioning her health problems only in passing. Which one would you like to spend more time with?

Portraying every problem in Pittsburgh as part of an enormous, insurmountable "image problem" does a disservice to everyone: residents, visitors and people considering moving here.

Report on the issues and let the "image" take care of itself for just one year. Then give us a progress report on Jan. 1, 2005.

REBECCA STALLINGS
Squirrel Hill

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Twisting his words

Shame on William Safire, deliberating misconstruing a Howard Dean jest as a serious statement and then building a column of criticism around it ("Cognitive Dissonance," Dec. 30). Or would he like us to believe he really thinks any politician, let alone one as astute as Dean, would actually admit sealing government records to avoid possible embarrassments during the campaign?

GEORGE McGEE
Marshall

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Our war dead

This is an open letter to the "sunshine patriots" who support the unnecessary Iraq war and our "bring 'em on" president.

It may not seem like much when the media announce a casualty or two or more on a daily basis, but I urge all these warmongers to look at pages 130-134 of the Dec. 29 People magazine. The names and pictures of 457 young servicemen and women mean more than isolated casualty numbers.

DAVID BRINK
Ross

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The U.S. must set an example of peace, tolerance
The United Nations has proclaimed 2004 as the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and Its Abolition. While the effort is outstanding, honoring our ancestors both black and white who stood for equality, what are we doing today in the fight against racism? One small way to help in the struggle is to find some common bond across cultural boundaries and a tolerance of differences.

People of all cultures love their families, they celebrate life and death in the same ways, they pass along the values that are relevant from one generation to another to enhance the quality of life. The ways in which we live may differ due to socioeconomic positioning, but all in all, everyone aspires to live the best he or she can and leave a legacy of hope for the ones who follow.

When people from other nations see news of the United States and are introduced to the racism, profiling, hate groups, etc., that have become prevalent in America, I'm sure our Declaration of Independence seems almost hypocritical to them. Maybe this is not a message for the younger generation; maybe this is meant for the baby boomer generation and before, where much of the hate has been cultivated and encouraged to grow in the hearts of their offspring.

Tolerance and understanding are the key. If we're supposed to be the leaders of the free world, I suggest that we start to lead by example: building a foundation of understanding, a model of peace for the world to follow.

DEBORAH STARLING-POLLARD
Crafton